Single top production associated with a neutral scalar at LHC in topcolor-assisted technicolor

TL;DR

This paper investigates the potential for single top quark production associated with neutral scalars predicted by the TC2 model at the LHC, highlighting their detectability as a probe for new physics beyond the Standard Model.

Contribution

It analyzes the production rates of top-neutral scalar associated processes in the TC2 model, showing they can be detectable at the LHC, unlike in the Standard Model or MSSM.

Findings

Production rates can exceed 3σ sensitivity in large parameter regions

Rare processes are promising probes for TC2 model

Standard Model and MSSM predict unobservably small rates

Abstract

The topcolor-assisted technicolor (TC2) model predicts a number of neutral scalars like the top-pion ($\pi^0_t$) and the top-Higgs ($h^0_t$). These scalars have flavor-changing neutral-current (FCNC) top quark couplings, among which the top-charm transition couplings may be sizable. Such FCNC couplings induce single top productions associated with a neutral scalar at the CERN Large Hadron Collider (LHC) through the parton processes $cg \to t \pi_t^0$ and $cg \to t h_t^0$. In this note we examine these productions and find their production rates can exceed the $3\sigma$ sensitivity of the LHC in a large part of parameter space. Since in the Standard Model and the minimal supersymmetric model such rare productions have unobservably small production rates at the LHC, these rare processes will serve as a good probe for the TC2 model.